


When Times Were Good

by 123itsme



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Marauders, Marauders Friendship, Marauders' Era, Multi, The Marauder's Map
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-07-06 13:31:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15887022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/123itsme/pseuds/123itsme
Summary: We all know the tragic story of the Marauders, one betrayed another causing an early death. One sentenced to life imprisonment for the crime, finally escaping after twelve years only to die a few years later. The last one only making it a little bit longer to die at the battle of Hogwarts after a lifetime of persecution.But before the first wizarding war, things were better. Not perfect - never perfect, but worth living. This is the story of the Marauders and their friends from first year to their untimely deaths.





	1. The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!  
> This is my first attempt at a fanfiction so don't judge too harshly. The first few chapters will be short, introducing the characters. Please comment so I know whether to continue the work or not.  
> Enjoy!

Sirius was in his room at Grimmauld place, packing the last of his items into his trunk. Once he had checked and double checked that nothing was missing, he closed it carefully and sat down.

Since Sirius had received his Hogwarts letter two months earlier, he had done nothing but switch between intense excitement and utter dread. On the one hand, he regarded his beginning at Hogwarts as a chance to escape his family - to finally become who he wanted to be. On the other hand, it seemed like the start of a whole new set of impossible expectations that his family had set him. This more negative view was especially prominent whenever his family started talking about who he would be at Hogwarts with, always assuming that he would be placed in Slytherin as every Black in the history of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black had been.

 

Heaving an enormous sigh, Sirius glanced at the clock on his wall - ten O’clock. Maybe he should try to sleep, he didn’t want to be tired on his first day at a new school. He laid down and tried to clear his mind of any worry or excitement, tried to focus on sleeping. After what seemed like an hour, he heaved an even greater sigh and sat up. He heard a snore from the room opposite his. He envied Regulus, able to fall asleep just like that maybe, in a years time when it was Regulus’s turn to go to Hogwarts it would be his turn to be unable to sleep. Then again, Regulus wouldn’t be under as much pressure as Sirius, because he, a year younger than Sirius, was already the favourite child, able to accept their parents views as the absolute truth, something that Sirius had not been able to do for a while. 

That was another thing that worried Sirius about going off to Hogwarts. While Sirius was around, he could moderate his parent’s views for Regulus, make him see the other side too (even though it always resulted in punishments). But when he went off to Hogwarts, Regulus’s only company would be his parents, Kreacher the house elf, and the multitude of portraits on the walls, only to happy to inform him of the superiority of purebloods over everyone else.

 

But, as he considered the pros and cons, Sirius realised that he was definitely looking forwards to Hogwarts a lot more than he dreaded it. Little did Sirius know that within a day of being at Hogwarts, he would have begun friendships that would last a lifetime...


	2. A Furry Little Problem

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meet tiny little Remus Lupin (my favourite - don't tell Sirius that)

Sitting cross-legged on the floor of his bedroom, Remus Lupin was paralysed by nerves. Remus had never been to school, his condition rather prevented him from socialising with other children, or adults for that matter. For his whole life Remus’s only friends had been his parents. There was his father, a wizard called Lyall Lupin, who blamed himself for Remus’s condition and tried to pretend that nothing was wrong. And then there was his mother, a muggle called Hope. She was kind, and Remus never doubted that she loved him despite his condition.

Up until a few months ago neither Remus nor his parents had considered that there may be a way for Remus to live a reasonably normal life and go to school. But that changed when Albus Dumbledore knocked at his front door and asked to speak to him and his parents. He had explained about the Whomping Willow leading to the Shrieking Shack, and the care that the school nurse, Madam Pomfrey would go to to ensure that Remus was kept in good health following his transformations. Slowly but surely, Dumbledore had convinced Remus’s parents that sending him to Hogwarts was a good idea in Remus’s best interests. And although Remus himself was excited, he was almost shitting himself with fear. What if they realised? What if they could tell straight away that Remus wasn’t one of them, an imposter? Remus didn’t know how to talk to people his age. They would think he was weird, that was a definite thing. His scars and his sickly appearance would set him out from the other, normal children almost at once and they would soon realise he didn’t belong. Then he would be sent home - or worse - truly an outcast once more.

 

These thoughts were racing around the young boy’s head into the early hours of the morning, when completely exhausted, Remus finally fell asleep, still fully dressed.


	3. Ready for Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more short chapter after this one - then the story will properly start! Hang on please.  
> I'm sorry about how long this took to be updated, I went back to school in September and I'm in GCSE year so I've been really busy with schoolwork.

‘Mum, where’s my hat?’ yelled Peter Pettigrew as he ran round his house, trying to round up all his necessary belongings - knocking many things over in the process including quite an expensive vase that his mum had only just repaired after he had knocked it over while trying to race his little sister to the dining room. He collided into his dad who was coming out of the kitchen.

‘Sorry Dad,’ a breathless Peter apologised.

‘Is this what you’re looking for?’ Peter’s dad, Thomas Pettigrew, said, holding out a black pointed hat to his eleven year old son.

Peter nodded vigorously and sprinted back to his room to put it in his trunk. Once he had done this, he could finally sit down. 

A small and chubby boy with straw coloured hair, Peter was not much to look at, but he was nice, and unassuming, and valued much by those who knew him properly. If people bothered to get to know him they became quite attached to his loyalty and steadfastness. Peter was nervous for his first day at Hogwarts - he had listened avidly to his parents describe their years there for years - but most of all he was excited. Peter had lived a comfortable, but not very exciting life so far, and he was ready for that to change.

He wondered about what house he would be put in - Hufflepuff most likely. Peter wouldn’t mind being in Hufflepuff. He know that many people believed them to be the worst house but Peter didn’t see what was so bad about being kind, generous and loyal. He adored the sense of inclusivity that Hufflepuff seemed to give off. As a child, Peter had always been the one who was left out, less interesting, less smart than his friends, but maybe in Hufflepuff that wouldn’t be the case. 

Although he didn’t admit it out loud, the one house Peter truly wished he was in  was Gryffindor. If he was put in Gryffindor, it would prove that he was something interesting - not just average. But Peter barely dared to hope that.


End file.
